No paperwork arrived with the chair from delivery. Need to know serial number etc.I investigated at least a dozen other massage chairs before selecting Relaxonchair, and I chose it because it had the best features for the price. Specifically, the features I valued in order of importance were: the L-track (massage from neck to butt), arm massage, foot massage, shoulder massage, and a program that puts them together to "stretch" you. Relaxonchair does all of these and quite well so I gave it 5 stars.There was only one other chair (the Kahuna Massage Chair at $1900) that had similar features at a similar price. I wish I could have tried it side by side with Relaxonchair, but welcome to the mail-order society. I have tried more expensive chairs, including chairs at trade shows and Costco, and they were not significantly better. For the past 8 years I owned a massage chair with fewer features (comparable to chairs costing $800-$1000 now) and I think the Relaxonchair is definitely worth the difference. Thus the title of this review.Here are a few details on the Relaxonchair specifically. The packaging was adequate, no delivery damage. Unpacking was easy. Assembly of the footrest didn't even require me reading the instructions. Moving into place on its wheels didn't scuff my floor (although I recommend using two people when moving because it does weigh 200 pounds). Operating the controls was easier than my last chair, but still only fair. I have yet to see a really intuitive interface on any chair. There are only 4 preset programs. They are all good but I wish there were more. Only number IV seems to do the stretching I like. When you turn on the chair it automatically reclines a bit, which I like. When the massage finishes it turns off, which is fine. But if you want more massage (and usually you do) and you turn the chair on again the chair returns upright and shuts off, which is inconvenient because you must then turn on the chair once more and wait for the automatic reclining before you can continue massaging.Some reviewers said the foot massage is too hard. Yes, it is, but a folded towel solves the "problem" easily. Some reviewers said tall people won't fit. I am six foot and fit fine except when completely prone. Then, if I stretch, my butt tends to lift out of the "L" pocket. No problem, though, if your knees are slightly bent.The back heat feature is not as strong as my last chair, so I would rate it below average. Keep a blanket around if you get cold. The "zero gravity" "feature" of this and other chairs seems to mean "head and feet at same height". My last chair had this "feature" and didn't even know it. I think it is marketing hype and did not give it any weight in this review. My final gripe is the headrest. There is none. There is a pad that goes from head to upper back, presumably for people who find the back rollers too hard. I prefer hard back rollers so I don't need the pad. Now I have to ask my wife to sew me a head-only pillow with appropriate velcro. But that isn't a big problem because my wife is very nice. She let me buy the chair after all!I've waited a couple of months to write this review as I wanted to see how it performed once the new wore off. Well, I'm just as impressed these few months later as I was the first night I used it.Each preset mode has 3 levels of intensify and speed, as well as 3 adjustments on the width of the massage 'hands' for one of the massage types. At first you think 'so, width adjustment', that's special? Well, the width adjustment actually feels like 3 separate massages on your back. There were other review suggestions regarding wearing thick socks the first few times when using the foot massager. I highly recommend either socks or hand towels placed in the foot massager and for yikes sake figure out how to adjust the intensity selection right off the bat.And yes, your muscles will be sore the next day irregardless of intensity level setting.Oh, I'm 5'9", 235lbs. Yes, I'm a chub. I use the chair daily.The most important thing I can say is that the Customer service is EXCELLENT. The chair arrived with visible damage from the shipping company. I called customer service, the rep talked me through how to handle refusing the order and sending the chair back with the delivery truck. The customer service rep completely took care of everything and they sent a replacement chair in less than a week. They were wonderful in a stressful situation.Now the chair - it really is a great massage chair overall. Love the leg massage/air pillow squeeze massage and the various tilts/zero gravity option. The programmed massages (4 of them) are very nice, with a bit of variety. Once you reread the directions a few times and try the buttons, you can also individualize things with specific locations, level of intensity, type of massage, heat, air on or off, etc. I find that a small pillow or a rolled towel is helpful in keeping my head supported in some of the settings. (Taller female, 5' 8") I do dial the air compression down to the lowest setting on the preset massages because I have wide shoulders and it squeezes a bit much for me. The foot roller is vigorous so sometimes I put towels there too so it reduces the impact. Overall I am really happy with this chair!We are 70 years old, which means you hurt more. The chair is relatively new, but it seems to be just what we expected. We could have paid 2-3 times more, but the Relaxon chair means our needs, looks nice, and does an adequate job. We were disappointed with the instructions. The chair purports to be zero gravity chair, but if you slant it, like a zero-gravity-like position, and pick one of the four auto programs (I, II, III, or IV), it gradually returns to lower positions where it seems to work better. When the chair slants, your shoulders move 2-3" farther back from the arm pillows, which interferes with the treatments.The foot massage felt great, the first time, but the next day our feet hurt. After taking a few days off, the foot massage felt good again. We still cannot figure out how to use the non-auto program. Again, no written guidelines came with the chair and they would help. For example, if you pull out the remote, trying to design your own treatment, the arm pillows close and you cannot get your arm back in for minutes at a time. All the instructions do is name the remote keys, and it is hard to figure out from the name what the buttons actually doAll of this said, we like the chair, would probably buy it again, and think it will be part of our life for years to come. We could not afford 2-3 times the price, and we doubt the daily difference would be that great. We no longer recline at all; we just sit down, turn on the heat, and pick a 15-minute program, or two if we have more time. If we do this once or twice a day, our lives will greatly improve. It also looks nice and takes up less room then we thought, especially if you don’t recline it.
